BICOM

Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov is expected to announce today the results of a lengthy probe into a bus bombing which took place in its Black Sea resort of Burgas in July.

The explosion ripped through a bus at the resort’s airport, killing five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver. A spokesman for Bulgaria’s president said that Tsvetanov would today “announce the results of the interim progress report in the investigation of the Burgas attack,” after having briefed senior members of the Bulgarian government earlier in the day.

Last month Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister, Nikolai Mladenov, made a one-day visit to Israel during which he is thought to have briefed Israeli officials on the investigation. According to the Jerusalem Post, an unnamed Israeli diplomatic official said that Israel “would not be surprised” by the report’s findings. Following the incident itself, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that there was “absolutely rock solid intelligence” that Hezbollah aided by Iran had carried out the attack.

Media reports also suggest that the investigation’s conclusions are likely to confirm that Hezbollah and its ally Iran were responsible for the Burgas attack. Should this be the case, the report could lend weight to Israeli and American pressure on the European Union (EU) to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. At present the UK regards Hezbollah’s armed wing as a terrorist group, but distinguishes this from its political wing. The EU has also so far refrained from designating any part of the organization as a terrorist entity. However, it is thought that evidence of Hezbollah involvement in an attack on EU territory would increase calls for a reassessment, which could have a significant impact on Hezbollah’s activities and particularly its fundraising ability.